Photographer Adam Ferguson: Big Sky

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Returning home periodically while based in New York, photographer Adam Ferguson became evermore aware of the deep disconnect between how the world views our outback and the stark realities he has encountered. Creating “a counterpoint to the often romantic notions of the outback that exist in popular culture and the Australian psyche” became a prime pursuit in his work. Many visits to some of our most remote communities – and many long conversations with locals – have culminated in his new book, Big Sky (GOST Books, $65).

Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, elder of Warakurna, “Sorry Place” near Warakurna, Ngaanyatjarra Lands, WA, 2017

Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, elder of Warakurna, “Sorry Place” near Warakurna, Ngaanyatjarra Lands, WA, 2017Credit: Adam Ferguson

When a person dies in remote Indigenous communities, family and community members gather to mourn at a “sorry place” in nearby bush. Daisy asked Ferguson to drive her here to pick up a mattress used in one such gathering.

Broken Hill Correctional Centre, Wilyakali Country, NSW, 2020

Broken Hill Correctional Centre, Wilyakali Country, NSW, 2020Credit: Adam Ferguson

The exercise yard in Broken Hill Correctional Centre, one of the most remote prisons in Australia. The majority of its inmates are Indigenous: incarceration rates for Indigenous Australians continue to grow, despite an overall drop in the number of adult prisoners nationally.

Leon “Poggy” Kloock, 59, impersonates Ned Kelly on his family farm, Coorabie, Wirangu Country, SA, 2018

Leon “Poggy” Kloock, 59, impersonates Ned Kelly on his family farm, Coorabie, Wirangu Country, SA, 2018Credit: Adam Ferguson

While struggling with the drought in 2018, Poggy’s farm had been opened to travellers. One night, Poggy surprised campers with an impromptu Ned Kelly performance. The next day, Ferguson asked Poggy if he could take this portrait: “I guess was drawn to the tension between the fiction ingrained in popular culture and the reality of living in the bush.”

Cultural burning near Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, WA, 2023.

Cultural burning near Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, WA, 2023.Credit: Adam Ferguson

Children from a remote Aboriginal community in the Tanami Desert practise cultural burning.

Kukatja Pintupi boy Matthew West, hunting trip, Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, WA, 2023

Kukatja Pintupi boy Matthew West, hunting trip, Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, WA, 2023Credit: Adam Ferguson

After his uncles hunted down a roo for meat, Matthew held up its joey. An elder encouraged Ferguson to take this photo; “When I reflect on it now,” Ferguson says, “I can’t help but think he’s showing me what whitefellas did to his Country.”

Farming couple Kent Morris and Sam Cormack, their children and Kent’s mother Lainie, Gunggari Country, Kandimulla property, south of Mitchell, Queensland, 2018.

Farming couple Kent Morris and Sam Cormack, their children and Kent’s mother Lainie, Gunggari Country, Kandimulla property, south of Mitchell, Queensland, 2018.Credit: Adam Ferguson

During the drought, Kent Morris and Sam Cormack were forced to work in a nearby town to earn an income, and could only maintain their family farm on weekends. “Droughts, storms and extreme weather challenge the human relationship to the land, threaten livelihoods, and reshape the cultural and environmental landscape of the Australian bush,” Ferguson says.

The annual Newman Burnouts in the Pilbara iron-ore mining town of Newman, Nyiyaparli Country, WA, 2023.

The annual Newman Burnouts in the Pilbara iron-ore mining town of Newman, Nyiyaparli Country, WA, 2023. Credit: Adam Ferguson

Ferguson visited Newman intending to photograph its iron-ore mines. When none of the big companies responded to his requests for access, “I visited anyway and searched for a picture that spoke of mining culture.”

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